n+1 explores why "it’s the bearers of culture rather than the wielders of power who are taxed with elitism." [more inside]
posted by davidjmcgee on Jan 24, 2011 - 34 comments

Judge a book by its cover. See if you can guess the Amazon rating.
posted by prefpara on Sep 27, 2008 - 42 comments

Late Night Shots is an "invitation-only" social networking site for elite GOP youth of Washington, DC that the late Steve Gilliard mockingly described as "the best and whitest." The Wonkette blog has devoted an entire section to the site that documents Late Night Shots' racism, date rape, anti-Islamic prejudice, and incest with second cousins, at least until Wonkette's editor started getting invited to their parties. The founder of Late Night Shots, Reed Landry, plans to take his networking site to other cities, but even though Wonkette has lost interest, the Washington City Paper has attracted scrutiny to the site again with a juicy new exposé.
posted by jonp72 on Jul 12, 2007 - 83 comments

There aren't many places in the United States that can count poetry societies run by Afghan cab drivers. Washington has two. And they don't like each other.
posted by jason's_planet on Jul 21, 2006 - 23 comments

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder*
*Statement suspect for museum curators, "critics", "experts" and "connosieurs".
posted by daksya on Mar 13, 2005 - 56 comments

Don't Fuck the South. Neal Pollack has resurfaced with a series of responses to the recent liberal backlash against red-state elitism: "I'd rather have a cup of coffee with my next-door neighbor every day for the rest of my life than share one "hazelnut latte" with you. He thinks I'm going to hell but helped me fix my lawnmower last weekend anyway."
posted by eustacescrubb on Nov 12, 2004 - 70 comments

Creative Class War: How the GOP's anti-elitism could ruin America's economy. This is an interesting and troubling article by Richard Florida on the possible flight of the American "Creative Class." [Via WorldChanging.]
posted by homunculus on Jan 14, 2004 - 69 comments

In defense of elitism. For smart people only.
posted by adrober on Apr 23, 2003 - 65 comments

Time was, American society had at least a loose pecking order, with the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, et al, setting standards for snobbery and WASP-y elitism. Now, says David Brooks, “we’ve democratized elitism in this country,” with everyone finding their own niche in which to be a snob. [more inside…]
posted by arco on Nov 1, 2002 - 19 comments

Prejudice! Deaf student turned down for place at Oxford University! Every year we have stories about how students were turned down for places at Oxford and Cambridge (the Yale and Harvard of the UK). The argument usually revolves around elitism, and that not enough state educated students are accepted into the top universities. This year, the story is of deaf student, Anastasia Fedotova, whose mother believes Oxford has discriminated against her daughter for not letting her in. And this just in, thousands of other parents are also claiming their able-bodied children have also been discriminated against. Oh, why can't those heartless admissions staff just accept every applicant!?
posted by wackybrit on Aug 19, 2002 - 26 comments

Elitist, moi? This is interesting in itself, but given some of the comments on MetaTalk at the moment it takes on greater resonance. Should the great unwashed be allowed access to art, or be allowed to produce art from a distinct, lowbrow perspective? Should Mefi only be available to those who post "the best that has been said and thought"? Is elitism good?
posted by Fat Buddha on Jul 13, 2002 - 26 comments

"Universities have a serious problem. The type of liberalism so heavily favored by the intellectual elite has crossed the line. Professors throughout the educational world are supporting murderers and terrorists; they are justifying despicable actions because of the political philosophies of the actors. Murder, slaughter, and terrorism are OK, they say, as long as they are directed at law-enforcement officials or civilian Westerners. It's fine as long as the murderer is anti-capitalist, anti-establishment or anti-conservative." -- Written by a UCLA student
posted by Steven Den Beste on Nov 23, 2001 - 50 comments

Trivial Pursuit 1.0 - The Weblog Edition - Line up the 22 little-known (yet hilarious) facts with the right weblogger and win a gift certificate from Amazon. How many can you name?
posted by EricBrooksDotCom on Jun 7, 2001 - 42 comments

Memo to NY media elite: While you would love if we all sat back sipping lattes while we listened to NPR, watched PBS, and thumbed through The New Yorker - America likes Britney Spears, Survivor, People magazine and Jim Carrey. Get over yourselves.
posted by owillis on Apr 18, 2001 - 61 comments